


Anna Trevelyan: Back story and Inquisition Beginnings

by Willowflower_Waterlily



Series: Inquisitor Anna [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 06:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3757414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowflower_Waterlily/pseuds/Willowflower_Waterlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Anna Trevelyan from age 13, to deciding who to go to for aid in sealing the breach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Anna Trevelyan had no idea how much her mother had sheltered her from as she was growing up. When she was thirteen was the first time her father, Edward, turned his rage on her instead of her mother. It was then that Anna decided that she wanted to learn how to fight, so that some day she could protect her mother and baby sister from him. Anna's mother found a mercenary captain that trained Anna in secret while her father was out of the house during the day.

Years pass and Anna is offered a place in the mercenary's company. Anna's mother, Lydia convinces her to join, and at the age of eighteen, Anna sneaks out of her family's estate for the last time. She feels guilty for having left her mother and infant sister with her father, but Lydia assures her that they will be fine. To avoid being spotted by her father's men, Anna dies her silvery blonde hair different colors while the mercenary company is in the Free Marches.

When Anna turns twenty, word reaches her captain that a blight has begun in Ferelden, so they all go to Ferelden to aid with fighting the blight. Anna leaves the company after the Landsmeet and joins the Ferelden army. She's there in Denerim when the Hero of Ferelden defeats the Archdemon, and when the Hero and King Alistair are married.

Anna spends the next eight years rising quickly through the ranks of the Ferelden army, and is given an honorable discharge when her contract with the army was up. When Anna leaves Denerim, she heads to the Hinterlands, helping whoever she can get out from between the Templars and mages. When the conclave is announced, a minor noble asks her to join him as his guard and she agrees, hoping that Most Holy can bring an end to the fighting and restore order.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna idly wonders if her father found her after all these years when she wakes up in chains in a cell, but when a dark haired woman stalks through the opened door, she knows this is something else entirely. "Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you right now?" The dark haired woman asks. "The temple is destroyed, and everyone at the conclave is dead except for you."

"I don't believe you." Anna glares at the other woman defiantly until a shooting pain in her left hand makes her double over.

"What is this!" The dark haired woman grabs her hand and shows it to her. There's a new scar on it, and it's glowing green.

"I don't know." Anna gasps. The other woman pulls her arm back, presumably to punch her, but the second woman that entered the cell grabs her hand.

"We need her." Anna looks up at her when she recognizes her voice, and sees that she looks familiar.

"You look familiar to me." Anna tells the red haired woman. "Were you in Denerim during the blight?"

"Yes, I fought at the gates, during the final fight." The woman replies, looking Anna over to see if she looked familiar to her too.

"I was there too, fighting for the Ferelden army." Anna tries to grab her left hand with her right, but can't reach it because of the bar attached to her wrists.

"But you sound like a Marcher, why would you have been there?"

"That's not important." The dark haired woman snaps. "Tell us what you remember from the conclave."

"I was there to guard a minor Ferelden noble, and he said I could explore, because there was time before the meeting. Then I remember a bright light, and being chased up a steep hill, and trying to reach a woman." The other two women exchange a glance and nod. "What did happen?

"It would be easier to show you." The dark haired woman replies. "Leliana, go to the forward camp, I'll escort the prisoner." 

"What is your name?" Anna asks as her hands are being tied together.

"Cassandra, and you are?"

"Anna."


	3. Chapter 3

Anna starts to zone out as Leliana and Cassandra have a shouting match with Roderick on the bridge right before the valley. She's startled out of it when she notices Leliana and Cassandra looking at her expectantly. "Hm?" She asks.

"Should we go into the valley with the soldiers or try to see if the scouts are alive on the mountain pass?" Cassandra glowers at her.

"The mountain pass, I wouldn't want to have those scouts die because we didn't make an attempt." Anna notices that Cassandra isn't pleased with her decision, but not enough to openly complain about it. After going up several ladders and fighting some demons, they come upon the corpses of some of the scouts. Hearing some fighting, Anna runs up ahead of the others, and there she sees a rift. On a hunch she throws her hand up, palm toward the rift and the mark on her hand connects with it, stunning the demons. After two waves of demons, she closes the breach, saving most of the scouts.

"Thank you, Seeker." One of the scouts says, "we wouldn't have lasted much longer if you hadn't arrived when you did."

"It wasn't I that made the decision, it was the prisoner." Cassandra made a gesture toward Anna. The scout looks at her shocked and then salutes her. "Make your way back to the forward camp." The scouts salute Cassandra and run off the way Anna and the others had just come through.

 

As the vision fades, Anna is stunned. She was there with Most Holy and whoever else was in the room. It scares her that she has no memory of it what so ever. When the scouts are in place, Anna opens the rift and a massive demon comes out of it. Anna interacts with the rift whenever she can to weaken the demon and others that come through. When finally the pride demon is dead, she shoves her had at the rift and throws everything she has into it. She prays that this works even if it kills her. Her last thoughts before succumbing to the darkness is that she hopes it worked.


	4. Chapter 4

Anna makes her way to the Chantry in Haven, after having calmed down the elf servant that walked in as she woke up. As she reaches the back of the building she hears Roderick and Cassandra yelling. As she walks in Cassandra slams a heavy tome on the table in front of her and all but physically pushes the chancellor out of the room. "Join us, help us bring order back to the world." Cassandra holds her hand out, and Anna shakes it.

 

A couple of days later, Anna and Cassandra walk toward the war room for the first meeting of the Inquisition. Anna flexes her hand, and Cassandra looks on in concern. "Does it bother you?"

"The pain never really went away, even after it stopped expanding. I keep flexing it, so it won't effect how I handle my dagger."

"Hopefully once the breach is closed, it won't trouble you anymore." Anna nods and they pass through the doors. Around the table are Leliana and two people she hasn't met yet. An Antivan woman in golden silk that looks vaguely familiar, and a man, Ferelden by his accent. When Anna's eyes land on his, her breath catches and she blushes slightly hoping no one else noticed. When she looks over at Leliana, she sees her giving her a mischievous look that tells Anna it hadn't gone completely unnoticed. The meeting goes by in a blur, and Anna spends most of it avoiding looking at the most beautiful man she's ever laid eyes on. I can't think like this, she chastises herself mentally, he's the commander. When the meeting ends, Josephine pulls her aside to ask a few questions

"Would it be all right if I contacted your family?" Josephine asks, and seems surprised when Anna groans.

"Please don't, I haven't been in contact with them in a little over a decade." Anna bites her lower lip and looks at Josephine and Leliana worried that they'll contact her father anyways.

"Why haven't you been in contact with them?" Leliana flashes her a puzzled look.

"My father is an abusive man, and when I had the opportunity to get out, my mother insisted that I took it. She had me trained with a mercenary captain after my father turned his anger on me when I was thirteen. I trained for five years in secret before the captain offered me a place in the company. When the blight started we went to Ferelden and I left the mercenaries to become a soldier. I spent a decade in Ferelden both in the army and after, helping people in the Hinterlands." Anna crossed her arms, in an attempt to keep from shaking at the memory of her father.

"We won't contact your family. I'm sorry it brought up such bad memories." Josephine places her hand on her arm and tries to comfort Anna.

"It's okay, you wouldn't have known." Anna smiles at her to try to reassure the ambassador that no harm was done.

"So how about we change topics." Leliana says, smirking. "Isn't our commander attractive?"

"Oh quit teasing, Leliana." Josephine admonishes her jokingly.

"I... I can't think of him that way." Anna says, feeling like prey that froze in front of the predator.

"Why not? Even commanders need love too." Anna stares at Leliana and thinks she probably can't turn a brighter shade of red.

"He's probably got someone waiting for him somewhere anyways." Anna sighs, "the good looking ones always do."

"Not that I'm aware of." Leliana says, grinning. "Flirt with him, Cullen is very fun to make blush." Anna thinks it over and grins back at Leliana.

"I do love to make men blush." Anna chuckles at the thought of such a big man blushing. "Tell me what makes him blush the most." Leliana wraps her arm around Anna's shoulders and they walk off giggling like teen girls plotting something.


	5. Chapter 5

"Commander." Anna says as she reaches her target.

"Ah, Herald. Good morning." He smiles shyly at her, and she wills herself to keep focused.

"I thought we could get to know one another better, seeing as we are working together."

"Makes sense." Cullen says, "what do you want to know?"

"The basics really, where in Ferelden you're from, why you had wanted to be a Templar."

"I grew up not far from here, in Honnleath. When I was thirteen, I was recruited to join the order. I had bugged the Templars in the village to be considered." Cullen chuckles at the memory. "They must have seen something in me, or at least a willingness to learn. The Knight-Captain approached my parents on my behalf."

"Do you still have family in Ferelden?" Anna looks him over, thinking she's seen someone that looked like him years ago.

"During the blight, my siblings moved to South Reach." It clicks in Anna's mind when Cullen tells her about his family. "Is something wrong?" He looks at her worried.

"I was in a mercenary group in Ferelden during the blight. We were moving families from a small village not far from here to South Reach when part of the horde broke off and attacked us. We were able to save most of the people, but a couple had died saving their youngest, a teenage girl. When I looked at you while you were talking it reminded me of them. I... You look so much like him." Anna bites her lip, and lowered her gaze. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sure you did all you could." Cullen gently takes one of her hands and squeezes it. She gasps and looks up at him, tears in her eyes. As he holds her gaze, Cullen wills himself to not take her in his arms. "If it weren't for you, my whole family would be gone."

"I tried to save everyone I could." Anna says, and smiles, though Cullen saw that the smile did not reach her eyes. He saw pain and regret that broke his heart.

"Why were you in a mercenary company in Ferelden, during the blight?" 

"I ran away from home when I was eighteen, when the captain of the company offered me a position. Later I joined the Ferelden army, I actually crossed paths with Leliana before. We were both at the gates during the fight in Denerim."

"Did you get a chance to meet the Wardens?" Cullen asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I did, actually. After the fighting." Anna smiles fondly as she remembers celebrating outside the palace. "They met with the surviving soldiers in small groups, they were very kind to us. You could tell that they're good people."

"I, um, I met them once." Cullen rubs the back of his neck. "They came to enlist the help of the mages in the Ferelden circle, but when they had gotten there blood mages had taken over. They saved us all." Anna thinks to reach for his hand as he did for her, but pulls her hand back and hopes he didn't notice. "I should get back to work."

"Right, of course. Thank you for talking with me Commander." Anna smiles shyly at him and walks away before he can reply.

"Anytime." Cullen says softly as he watches her walk away.


	6. Chapter 6

It takes two months for Anna and her group to get the Hinterlands in order. Cassandra often complains to her how they have certain things that they need to do, and she can't stop for everyone to help them. Anna ignores her, as do Varric and Solas. Before she heads back to Haven, Anna finds a stray Warden, and recruits Bull's Chargers. She had heard of them before, and when Krem approached her, Anna was excited to go see them.

 

Riding her horse back into Haven, she looks around for Cullen, but tries not to be blatant about it. "Looking for Curly, hm?" 

"No, just looking around, there are more recruits than we had before we left." Anna says, trying not to blush, as she hands her horse off to the stable hand. 

"I don't know who you think you're fooling, Silver. I see how you look at him."

"Could you just keep it to yourself, please." Anna looks at Varric, annoyed. "He's the commander and I'm the herald. I know what that means as a soldier."

"I may never have been a soldier, but I know what those looks mean. In times like these, it's good to find some happiness where you can." 

"Let me get to know the man first." Anna grouses. "I hardly know him."

"Fair enough, just don't give up on it if you find that you do have feelings for him." 

"I'll take it in to consideration." Anna says, laughing as she walks away from him.

 

"So, Cullen, do Templars take vows? I swear to protect the mages from the people and vice versa." Anna smirks at Cullen.

"Well, there is a vigil before you become a Templar, after the vigil your handed your first daught of lyrium, and it's power." 

"So a life of service and sacrifice. Does that include physical temptations?" Anna tries to make a neutral expression, but fails miserably. Cullen stares at her grin, and wishes he could take her mouth with his own. Anna clears her throat, startling Cullen.

"Um, why would you? No, it's not required to much such vows. Some do, but others have relationships and even get married, though they have to get permission to first."

"Did you?"

"Did I?" Cullen lets her question swirl around in his mind before he realizes what she just asked. Anna tries not to laugh as Cullen turns bright red and he rubs the back of his neck. "No, I... I made no such vows. Maker's breath, can we talk about something else?"

"That was all I wanted to know." Anna beams at him, before she turns and slowly walks away swaying her hips. Cullen stares after her, his mouth open and his mind full of very inappropriate thoughts. Like how he wants to grab those swaying hips and bury himself into her. He turns beet red as his berates himself for thinking those things.

"So you have the hots for the Boss." Bull makes Cullen jump a foot. "Not that I can blame you, she does have a nice ass." Cullen turns and glares at the Qunari. "You have nothing to worry about from me, or anyone else really."

"I'll probably regret asking, but what do you mean?" Cullen rubs the bridge of his nose, and glances at the recruits training with his captains.

"I've only ever seen her flirt with you, clearly she's testing the waters." Bull chuckles, "so flirt with her. She'd probably like it."

"If you say so." Cullen says before turning his full attention back to the training grounds.


	7. Chapter 7

The trip to Val Royeaux bore some fruit, in that Anna added to her inner circle. A loyalist mage, and a weird elf rogue. Anna also gets an invitation to talk to the mages in Redcliffe. The downside of the trip is that the Chantry mothers will not work with the Inquisition, and the Templars seemed to have shown their true colors by punching one of the older mothers in the head.

Anna decides to bypass Haven and go straight to the Fallow Mire, to save the soldiers that got captured by the Avaar. She ends up taking their leader on one on one, while the others fought the rest of the tribe. When they enter the room that the soldiers are kept in, Anna makes sure to talk to each of them individually.

When the group gets back to Haven, Anna goes to all of the mages and Templars they have and asks them who she should go to for help with the breach. All the mages and some of the Templars tell her to go to the mages. The Templars who suggest going to talk to the Templars seem to be making the recommendation more out of fear than what they think would be best. 

At the meeting, Leliana and Cassandra want to go to the mages, and Cullen wants to go to the Templars, with Josephine not voting either way. When the look to Anna, she takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "After having talked to the Templars and mages we have here, I've decided that we should go talk to the mages."

"Are you sure that's the best course of action?" Cullen asks, "especially so close to the breach."

"If demons are falling out of the sky, would they really try to possess a mage?" Anna raises an eyebrow at Cullen, who sighs at her.

"I'll take Blackwall, Bull, and Varric with me." Anna nods at them all and heads out to tell the others to pack up for the trip.


End file.
